Jews around the world react to Obama

November 6, 2008 11:27pm

Two days before the election, Judith Kessler and Nadine Bose, both of whom work for the Jewish community of Berlin, realized they had no
Obama t-shirts. So they designed one and had it made. "I have worn it every day since, and it’s pretty stinky," Kessler, editor of the
monthly magazine of Berlin’s Jewish community, told JTA.

"I am not sure how all the Jews feel about Obama, but I know how I feel," Kessler, 49, said. "And of those I ran into at work today,
basically all of them were for Obama. Because he seems intelligent, he seems moderate, and because he presumably can really understand the
position of minorities in society."

Was there concern about his position towards Israel? "Well, yes, there was a bit of that. There definitely is some fear that he would not maintain the previous policies of the USA. But he does not seem like a
hawk." Jews here share the general German rejection of war, she said.

Bose, the 28-year-old assistant to the president of the Jewish community of Berlin, said she would have liked to vote for Obama. Instead, she and her friend made the t-shirts to "show the world who we are for."

on election night, she held a party for her friends; they stayed up all night to see Obama win.

"I think nearly all the people I know would have voted for Obama because he is the liberal one and he is younger. And Obama means
change, and they need change after ‘W.’" She and her friends concluded that Democratic presidents were no better or worse than Republicans
when it came to Israel. "There was no conflict with our support for Obama and our support for Israel," she said.